Exploring the antecedents and utility of self-disclosure in college freshmen.

Abstract

Adjusting to college is at once an exciting and stress-inducing process. One potentially helpful action students can take under stress is to disclose negative feelings to peers, thus enabling interpersonal emotion regulation and social support. However, students vary in their tendency to disclose negative feelings. Through trait data, social network nominations, and experience-sampling data, we explore trait and situational factors that influence students’ likelihood of disclosing stressful events to dorm-mates. For ten days throughout their first quarter on campus, students reported up to three daily stressors, along with the emotional intensity and category for each, and to whom, if anyone, each stressor was disclosed. Academic stressors were most likely to be disclosed and social stressors least likely. Additionally, stressors higher in emotional intensity were more likely to be disclosed. Whereas students experiencing more depression, anxiety, and perceived stress were equally as likely as their peers to disclose negative events, students experiencing greater feelings of loneliness were significantly less likely to engage in self-disclosure. Interestingly, self-disclosure was not found to influence daily changes in mood, affect, or stress. Future research will aim to assess the utility of disclosure over longer timescales. Findings from this exploratory analysis can help inform whether self-disclosure should be encouraged as a potential avenue to buffering stress and improving well-being during the transition to college.

Intro

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What types of stress do students experience?

## # A tibble: 1 x 3
##   mean_stressors sd_stressors count_stressors
##            <dbl>        <dbl>           <int>
## 1           12.5         7.66            2294

How emotionally intense are the stressors students experience?

How does the emotional intensity of reported stressors vary by category?

Emotional intensity of reported stressors does not vary significantly by category.

How does the quality of a stressor influence students’ likelihood of disclosure?

## singular fit
## # A tibble: 16 x 8
##    term     estimate std.error statistic   p.value conf.low conf.high group
##    <chr>       <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl> <chr>
##  1 (Interc…   0.849     0.147      5.77   7.92e- 9    0.561    1.14   fixed
##  2 EmoRati…   0.354     0.0948     3.73   1.93e- 4    0.168    0.539  fixed
##  3 Cat_Soc…  -1.09      0.166     -6.61   3.77e-11   -1.42    -0.770  fixed
##  4 Cat_Hea…  -0.636     0.142     -4.47   7.93e- 6   -0.914   -0.357  fixed
##  5 Cat_Fin   -1.29      0.618     -2.09   3.66e- 2   -2.50    -0.0803 fixed
##  6 Cat_Job   -1.01      0.402     -2.50   1.23e- 2   -1.80    -0.219  fixed
##  7 Cat_Oth…  -0.596     0.220     -2.71   6.72e- 3   -1.03    -0.165  fixed
##  8 EmoRati…  -0.145     0.162     -0.899  3.68e- 1   -0.462    0.171  fixed
##  9 EmoRati…  -0.0444    0.142     -0.313  7.55e- 1   -0.323    0.234  fixed
## 10 EmoRati…  -1.13      0.772     -1.46   1.45e- 1   -2.64     0.388  fixed
## 11 EmoRati…  -1.13      0.469     -2.40   1.63e- 2   -2.05    -0.208  fixed
## 12 EmoRati…  -0.555     0.201     -2.77   5.69e- 3   -0.948   -0.162  fixed
## 13 sd_(Int…   0.758    NA         NA     NA          NA       NA      Day.…
## 14 sd_Cat_…   0.536    NA         NA     NA          NA       NA      ID   
## 15 sd_(Int…   1.46     NA         NA     NA          NA       NA      ID.1 
## 16 sd_Cat_…   0        NA         NA     NA          NA       NA      Dorm

Students are most likely to disclose academic stressors to their peers and are slightly more likely than chance to disclose health-related stressors. Interestingly, students are slightly less likely than chance to disclose social stressors. Students are also more likely to disclose stressors that are higher in emotional intensity.

How do students’ individual differences influence their likelihood of disclosure?

## # A tibble: 5 x 8
##   term       estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high group
##   <chr>         <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl> <chr>
## 1 (Intercep…    0.389    0.109       3.56  3.73e-4   0.175      0.604 fixed
## 2 EmoRating…    0.189    0.0503      3.76  1.68e-4   0.0906     0.288 fixed
## 3 Lonelines…   -0.739    0.310      -2.38  1.72e-2  -1.35      -0.131 fixed
## 4 CloseFrd_…    0.181    0.0672      2.69  7.15e-3   0.0490     0.312 fixed
## 5 sd_(Inter…    1.22    NA          NA    NA        NA         NA     ID

Students who experience more loneliness are less likely than their peers to disclose stressful events, regardless of the objective number of friendships the student reports having. Trait anxiety, depression, and perceived stress were also tested in separate models, but none emerged as significant predictors of disclosure.

How do students’ perceptions of their social environments predict their likelihood of disclosure?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term              estimate std.error statistic p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>                <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>   <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)         0.0160    0.0822     0.195 0.845    -0.146     0.178 
## 2 Loneliness_avg_z   -0.223     0.0864    -2.59  0.0105   -0.394    -0.0529
## 3 CloseFrd_Total_c…   0.137     0.0498     2.76  0.00645   0.0391    0.236

## # A tibble: 2 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>   <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)        0.0136    0.0846     0.161  0.872   -0.153      0.181
## 2 Empathic_Total_z   0.228     0.0886     2.57   0.0110   0.0530     0.403

## # A tibble: 2 x 7
##   term              estimate std.error statistic p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>                <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>   <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)         0.0108    0.0849     0.127  0.899   -0.157      0.178
## 2 Responsive_Total…   0.204     0.0896     2.28   0.0238   0.0275     0.381

Attributes of students’ social networks were used to predict their likelihood of disclosure. Perceptions of network responsiveness and empathy as well as perceived social isolation are significant predictors of rate of disclosure.

How do students’ feelings of social integration predict their perceptions of their social environments?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term           estimate std.error statistic    p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>             <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>      <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)     -0.0320    0.0676    -0.474    6.36e-1   -0.165    0.101 
## 2 Loneliness_av…  -0.112     0.0710    -1.58     1.17e-1   -0.252    0.0282
## 3 CloseFrd_Tota…   0.234     0.0409     5.73     4.90e-8    0.154    0.315
## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term           estimate std.error statistic    p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>             <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>      <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)     -0.0201    0.0658    -0.305    7.61e-1   -0.150    0.110 
## 2 Loneliness_av…  -0.176     0.0691    -2.55     1.17e-2   -0.313   -0.0398
## 3 CloseFrd_Tota…   0.234     0.0398     5.88     2.29e-8    0.156    0.313

Students who perceive their social envionments to be more responsive and more empathic report feeling less socially isolated.

What is the utility of disclosing negative events to dorm-mates?

Same-day wellbeing

Does disclosure predict same-day aggregate wellbeing?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)      -0.0651    0.0310     -2.10  3.60e- 2  -0.126   -0.00427
## 2 disclosure_rati… -0.00705   0.0298     -0.236 8.13e- 1  -0.0655   0.0514 
## 3 EmoRating_day_m… -0.0647    0.00817    -7.92  6.19e-15  -0.0807  -0.0487

Does disclosure predict same-day satisfaction with day?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)       -0.0187   0.0296     -0.633 5.27e- 1  -0.0767   0.0393 
## 2 disclosure_rati…  -0.0640   0.0284     -2.25  2.45e- 2  -0.120   -0.00823
## 3 EmoRating_day_m…  -0.0847   0.00779   -10.9   3.92e-26  -0.0999  -0.0694

Does disclosure predict same-day loneliness?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term           estimate std.error statistic    p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>             <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>      <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)    -0.00148   0.0309    -0.0480    9.62e-1  -0.0620   0.0591 
## 2 disclosure_ra… -0.0621    0.0297    -2.09      3.64e-2  -0.120   -0.00393
## 3 EmoRating_day…  0.0497    0.00814    6.10      1.52e-9   0.0337   0.0656
## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term           estimate std.error statistic    p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>             <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>      <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)    -0.00148   0.0309    -0.0480    9.62e-1  -0.0620   0.0591 
## 2 disclosure_ra… -0.0621    0.0297    -2.09      3.64e-2  -0.120   -0.00393
## 3 EmoRating_day…  0.0497    0.00814    6.10      1.52e-9   0.0337   0.0656

Does disclosure predict same-day positive affect?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)      -0.0231    0.0307     -0.753 4.52e- 1  -0.0834    0.0371
## 2 disclosure_rati…  0.00794   0.0295      0.269 7.88e- 1  -0.0499    0.0658
## 3 EmoRating_day_m… -0.0630    0.00807    -7.81  1.41e-14  -0.0789   -0.0472

Does disclosure predict same-day negative affect?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)       0.0191    0.0311      0.616 5.38e- 1  -0.0418    0.0801
## 2 disclosure_rati… -0.00358   0.0299     -0.120 9.05e- 1  -0.0622    0.0550
## 3 EmoRating_day_m…  0.0596    0.00818     7.29  6.11e-13   0.0436    0.0757

Does disclosure predict same-day stress?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)        0.0276   0.0302      0.914 3.61e- 1  -0.0316    0.0868
## 2 disclosure_rati…  -0.0158   0.0290     -0.546 5.86e- 1  -0.0727    0.0411
## 3 EmoRating_day_m…   0.0795   0.00795    10.00  1.59e-22   0.0639    0.0951

Students’ perceived loneliness and their satisfaction with day are lower on days when they disclose a higher proportion of their stressors to peers, regardless of the magnitude of stress they experienced that day.

Next-day wellbeing

Does disclosure predict next-day aggregate wellbeing?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)       -0.0640   0.0344      -1.86 6.30e- 2  -0.132    0.00348
## 2 disclosure_rati…   0.0420   0.0330       1.27 2.03e- 1  -0.0228   0.107  
## 3 EmoRating_day_m…  -0.0605   0.00896     -6.76 2.53e-11  -0.0781  -0.0430

Does disclosure predict next-day satisfaction with day?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)       -0.0266   0.0328     -0.812 4.17e- 1 -0.0909     0.0377
## 2 disclosure_rati…   0.0695   0.0314      2.21  2.73e- 2  0.00778    0.131 
## 3 EmoRating_day_m…  -0.0878   0.00853   -10.3   1.51e-23 -0.105     -0.0711

Does disclosure predict next-day loneliness?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)       -0.0201   0.0343     -0.587  5.57e-1  -0.0875    0.0472
## 2 disclosure_rati…  -0.0370   0.0329     -1.12   2.61e-1  -0.102     0.0276
## 3 EmoRating_day_m…   0.0465   0.00895     5.19   2.60e-7   0.0289    0.0641

Does disclosure predict next-day stress?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)        0.0595   0.0333       1.79 7.42e- 2 -0.00584    0.125 
## 2 disclosure_rati…  -0.0502   0.0319      -1.57 1.16e- 1 -0.113      0.0124
## 3 EmoRating_day_m…   0.0846   0.00866      9.76 1.91e-21  0.0676     0.102

Change in wellbeing

Does disclosure predict change in aggregate wellbeing?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)       -0.0985   0.0364      -2.70 6.98e- 3  -0.170    -0.0270
## 2 disclosure_rati…   0.0898   0.0350       2.57 1.04e- 2   0.0212    0.158 
## 3 EmoRating_day_m…  -0.0840   0.00949     -8.86 4.36e-18  -0.103    -0.0654

Does binary disclosure predict change in aggregate wellbeing?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)       8.90e-4   0.0449     0.0198 9.84e- 1  -0.0872    0.0890
## 2 disclosure_rati… -1.74e-1   0.0644    -2.71   6.90e- 3  -0.301    -0.0480
## 3 EmoRating_day_m… -7.78e-2   0.00874   -8.91   2.89e-18  -0.0950   -0.0607

How do students’ perceptions of their social environments predict daily well-being?

Trait Loneliness

Does trait loneliness predict daily aggregate wellbeing?

## # A tibble: 4 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)        0.0280   0.0271      1.03  3.03e- 1  -0.0253    0.0812
## 2 Loneliness_avg_z  -0.356    0.0274    -13.0   2.29e-36  -0.410    -0.303 
## 3 EmoRating_day_m…  -0.0630   0.00710    -8.89  2.32e-18  -0.0770   -0.0491
## 4 CloseFrd_Total_…  -0.0128   0.0161     -0.795 4.27e- 1  -0.0445    0.0188

Does trait loneliness predict daily loneliness?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)       -0.0410   0.0263      -1.56 1.20e- 1  -0.0926    0.0107
## 2 Loneliness_avg_z   0.439    0.0260      16.9  1.27e-57   0.388     0.490 
## 3 EmoRating_day_m…   0.0348   0.00689      5.05 5.12e- 7   0.0213    0.0483

Does trait loneliness predict daily negative affect?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)       -0.0710   0.0285      -2.49 1.28e- 2  -0.127    -0.0151
## 2 Loneliness_avg_z   0.228    0.0281       8.12 1.15e-15   0.173     0.284 
## 3 EmoRating_day_m…   0.0438   0.00745      5.88 5.47e- 9   0.0292    0.0584

Does trait loneliness predict daily stress?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)       -0.0385   0.0278      -1.38 1.67e- 1  -0.0931    0.0161
## 2 Loneliness_avg_z   0.276    0.0275      10.1  7.26e-23   0.222     0.330 
## 3 EmoRating_day_m…   0.0600   0.00728      8.23 4.78e-16   0.0457    0.0742

Does trait loneliness predict daily satisfaction with day?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)      -0.00338   0.0284     -0.119 9.05e- 1  -0.0591    0.0523
## 2 Loneliness_avg_z -0.202     0.0280     -7.22  9.25e-13  -0.257    -0.147 
## 3 EmoRating_day_m… -0.0624    0.00743    -8.40  1.22e-16  -0.0770   -0.0479

Perceived Empathy

Does empathy of network predict daily loneliness?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)       -0.0220   0.0293     -0.750  4.53e-1  -0.0795    0.0355
## 2 Empathic_Total_z   0.0172   0.0288      0.598  5.50e-1  -0.0393    0.0737
## 3 EmoRating_day_m…   0.0317   0.00767     4.13   3.84e-5   0.0166    0.0467

Does empathy of network predict daily negative affect?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term            estimate std.error statistic   p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>              <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)     -0.0612    0.0292     -2.09    3.65e-2  -0.119   -0.00386
## 2 Empathic_Total… -0.00365   0.0288     -0.127   8.99e-1  -0.0601   0.0528 
## 3 EmoRating_day_…  0.0422    0.00766     5.52    4.25e-8   0.0272   0.0572

Does empathy of network predict daily stress?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)       -0.0261   0.0288     -0.906 3.65e- 1  -0.0827    0.0304
## 2 Empathic_Total_z   0.0993   0.0283      3.51  4.74e- 4   0.0437    0.155 
## 3 EmoRating_day_m…   0.0577   0.00755     7.65  4.05e-14   0.0429    0.0725

Perceived Responsiveness

Does responsiveness of network predict daily loneliness?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)       -0.0206   0.0293     -0.705  4.81e-1  -0.0780  0.0368  
## 2 Responsive_Tota…  -0.0570   0.0288     -1.98   4.81e-2  -0.114  -0.000488
## 3 EmoRating_day_m…   0.0320   0.00766     4.18   3.15e-5   0.0170  0.0470

Does responsiveness of network predict daily negative affect?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term            estimate std.error statistic   p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>              <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)      -0.0608   0.0292     -2.08    3.80e-2  -0.118   -0.00338
## 2 Responsive_Tot…  -0.0178   0.0288     -0.617   5.37e-1  -0.0743   0.0387 
## 3 EmoRating_day_…   0.0423   0.00765     5.53    4.04e-8   0.0273   0.0573

Does responsiveness of network predict daily stress?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)      -0.0267    0.0290     -0.922 3.57e- 1  -0.0836    0.0301
## 2 Responsive_Tota…  0.00330   0.0286      0.116 9.08e- 1  -0.0527    0.0593
## 3 EmoRating_day_m…  0.0580    0.00758     7.65  4.10e-14   0.0432    0.0729

Students who feel more socially connected tend to experience better daily well-being.

Is the relationship between disclosure and next-day change in wellbeing moderated by trait loneliness?

The relationship between disclosure and daily wellbeing is not moderated by trait loneliness for any of the “negative” measures of wellbeing. This suggests that students high in trait loneliness may still benefit from disclosing their stress to peers.

*Does binary disclosure predict next-day aggregate wellbeing?

## # A tibble: 3 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)       -0.0132   0.0461     -0.287 7.74e- 1  -0.104     0.0772
## 2 disclosure_rati…  -0.110    0.0661     -1.66  9.69e- 2  -0.239     0.0199
## 3 EmoRating_day_m…  -0.0609   0.00896    -6.80  1.90e-11  -0.0785   -0.0434

Is the relationship between disclosure and daily wellbeing moderated by perceived responsiveness?

Does perceived responsiveness moderate the relationship between disclosure and daily loneliness?

## # A tibble: 5 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)      -0.00201   0.0309    -0.0649  9.48e-1  -0.0627   0.0587 
## 2 disclosure_rati… -0.0616    0.0297    -2.07    3.86e-2  -0.120   -0.00323
## 3 Responsive_Tota…  0.00913   0.0305     0.299   7.65e-1  -0.0507   0.0690 
## 4 EmoRating_day_m…  0.0497    0.00815    6.09    1.58e-9   0.0337   0.0657 
## 5 disclosure_rati… -0.00986   0.0303    -0.325   7.45e-1  -0.0693   0.0496

Does perceived responsiveness moderate the relationship between disclosure and daily negative affect?

## # A tibble: 5 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)       0.0192    0.0311      0.618 5.37e- 1 -0.0418     0.0802
## 2 disclosure_rati… -0.00572   0.0299     -0.191 8.48e- 1 -0.0644     0.0529
## 3 Responsive_Tota…  0.00793   0.0307      0.258 7.96e- 1 -0.0523     0.0681
## 4 EmoRating_day_m…  0.0594    0.00818     7.26  7.74e-13  0.0433     0.0754
## 5 disclosure_rati…  0.0503    0.0305      1.65  9.94e- 2 -0.00954    0.110

Does perceived responsiveness moderate the relationship between disclosure and daily stress?

## # A tibble: 5 x 7
##   term             estimate std.error statistic  p.value conf.low conf.high
##   <chr>               <dbl>     <dbl>     <dbl>    <dbl>    <dbl>     <dbl>
## 1 (Intercept)       0.0275    0.0302      0.910 3.63e- 1  -0.0318    0.0868
## 2 disclosure_rati… -0.0172    0.0291     -0.592 5.54e- 1  -0.0742    0.0398
## 3 Responsive_Tota…  0.00783   0.0298      0.263 7.93e- 1  -0.0507    0.0663
## 4 EmoRating_day_m…  0.0793    0.00796     9.97  2.15e-22   0.0637    0.0949
## 5 disclosure_rati…  0.0329    0.0296      1.11  2.67e- 1  -0.0252    0.0910

The relationship between disclosure and daily wellbeing is not moderated by perceived responsiveness for any of the “negative” measures of wellbeing. This suggests that students high in trait loneliness may still benefit from disclosing their stress to peers.

Daily Ambient Empathy

Next Steps

  • How does disclosure influence wellbeing over longer timescales (quarter, year, etc.)?
  • Do qualities of the support provider, such as empathy, influence the utility of disclosing negative events?
  • Why do lonely students disclose their stress less frequently?
    • How do they benefit from disclosure vs. their less lonely peers?
    • How do they perceive the impact of their disclosure on the support provider?
    • How does their IRQ-E compare to their less lonely peers?
  • To what extent does IRQ-E operate as a self-fulfilling mindset?